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Who dies in a heat wave? How to help protect the vulnerable in our communities

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/myles-david-sergeant-1542267">Myles David Sergeant</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/mcmaster-university-930">McMaster University</a> Extreme heat is a silent killer. From time to time, we hear about shocking cases of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/24/football-player-heat-deaths-athlete">football players</a> and other athletes who die suddenly while exerting themselves on hot days. Those deaths are certainly tragic, but statistically they are very rare. Most deaths from extreme heat <a href="https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-heat-related-deaths">are in older people</a>, who frequently die alone inside their homes. They often die slowly, as the heat creeps up to and sometimes past body temperature, especially when heat domes park themselves over cities and keep the temperature high all day and all night. When such deaths happen, they rarely make the news. Of all the climate change disasters our world is already experiencing, heat is the top killer, <a href="https://library.wmo.int/viewer/68500/download?file=1335_WMO-Climate-services-Health_en.pdf&type=pdf&navigator=1">as the World Meteorological Organization reported</a>. The planet was more than <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/08/temperatures-1-point-5c-above-pre-industrial-era-average-for-12-months-data-shows">1.5 C above the pre-industrial baseline</a> for 12 consecutive months from July 2023 to June 2024. In July this year, we saw the hottest three days ever on record, prompting <a href="https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/press-encounter/2024-07-25/secretary-generals-press-conference-extreme-heat">a special statement from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres</a>. <h2>Health risks and heat</h2> <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499843/">Our bodies are made to dump excess heat</a> when we are too warm, but that process goes into reverse when the air is warmer than our core temperature. Our other main defence, sweating, doesn’t help when humidity saturates the air, making it impossible for our own moisture to evaporate. For the frail and elderly, who are more likely to be labouring with heart troubles, COPD or other challenges, simply sitting still in a heat wave requires an effort equivalent to walking on a treadmill. The effort is not great, but it is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cjco.2021.10.002">steady and relentless</a>. It exhausts the body, sometimes to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(22)00117-6">point of no return</a>. Tracking heat-related deaths is challenging, and it’s changing as authorities become more aware of heat as a contributing or underlying factor to deaths by other causes. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2006.100081">A paper published by the American Journal of Public Health</a> points out that the 1995 heat wave in Chicago likely contributed to hundreds more deaths than had first been attributed to heat itself. <h2>Who is at risk?</h2> Many people lack air conditioning or a way to get to a place that has it, such as a library, recreation centre or shopping mall. As a result, too many people in cities are forced to <a href="https://wmo.int/publication-series/2023-state-of-climate-services-health">endure long waves of heat</a> — waves that are occurring more frequently, lasting longer, and reaching higher temperatures — in a trend that appears set to continue getting worse. Air conditioning, <a href="https://www.lpm.org/news/2015-07-24/the-history-of-movie-theaters-and-air-conditioning-that-keeps-film-lovers-cool">once a luxury that drew people to summertime movie theatres on hot nights</a>, has become a necessity. Increasingly, it is also a legal requirement, as cities pass bylaws requiring landlords not to allow the temperature in their tenants’ quarters to rise above a certain level. Toronto has <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/home/311-toronto-at-your-service/find-service-information/article/?kb=kA06g000001xvbiCAA">such a bylaw</a> for rental units that have air conditioning available, capping indoor temps at 26 C between June 2 and Sept. 14. Such laws recognize the vulnerability of tenants who lack control over the temperature in their rental units, making heat death an especially urban tragedy, as confirmed in <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/82-003-x/2024006/article/00001-eng.pdf?st=e6jLNMuq">a recent Statistics Canada study</a> between 2000 and 2020. Deaths from extreme heat were more likely in cities with a higher percentage of renter households. During a single week-long heat wave in June 2021 — the year after the period captured in the Statistics Canada study — <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-heat-dome-sudden-deaths-570-1.6122316">B.C.’s chief coroner found that 570 people died from heat-related causes</a> — 79 per cent of them were seniors. <h2>Taking action at the community level</h2> From this Global North perspective, the community members who are most likely to die from extreme heat included: <ul> <li>Those over 65</li> <li>Those with more than one chronic condition (including hypertension, mental health, diabetes, heart disease, lung disease)</li> <li>Socially disadvantaged populations in our communities</li> <li>Those with mobility issues</li> <li>Those experiencing social isolation (living alone)</li> <li>Tenants with lack of air conditioning</li> <li>Those living in an urban heat island</li> </ul> This problem is not going away. Some of the <a href="https://www.intactcentreclimateadaptation.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/UoW_ICCA_2022_04-Irreversible-Extreme-Heat.pdf">actions we can take</a> to protect our most vulnerable community members include: <ul> <li>Increase awareness that excessive heat is not merely uncomfortable, but dangerous.</li> <li>Make sure people are warned about impending heat waves.</li> <li>Advocate for everyone to have access to air conditioning.</li> <li>Check on and support people who live alone, especially those with no air conditioning.</li> <li>Invite people over if you have air conditioning, or help them get to community cooling stations.</li> <li>Help vulnerable people who do not have air conditioning to improvise, by freezing wet cloths, for example, to take out and hang around their necks. Doing this, especially with a fan blowing, can be surprisingly effective.</li> <li>Learn and share the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/publications/healthy-living/fact-sheet-staying-healthy-heat.html">warning signs of heat-related illness</a>.</li> <li>Make sure they drink plenty of water and other replenishing fluids.</li> </ul> While we must do our best to limit climate change to keep our planet from getting ever hotter, we must also make every effort to protect the vulnerable from the impacts of the heat that is already here.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/236829/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/myles-david-sergeant-1542267">Myles David Sergeant</a>, Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Family Medicine, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/mcmaster-university-930">McMaster University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-dies-in-a-heat-wave-how-to-help-protect-the-vulnerable-in-our-communities-236829">original article</a>.

Caring

How can we improve public health communication for the next pandemic? Tackling distrust and misinformation is key

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/shauna-hurley-203140">Shauna Hurley</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rebecca-ryan-1522824">Rebecca Ryan</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/la-trobe-university-842">La Trobe University</a> There’s a common thread linking our <a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/history-of-pandemics-deadliest/">experience of pandemics</a> over the past 700 years. From the black death in the 14th century to COVID in the 21st, public health authorities have put emergency measures such as isolation and quarantine in place to stop infectious diseases spreading. As we know from COVID, these measures upend lives in an effort to save them. In both the <a href="https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/pandemic-protests-when-unrest-and-instability-go-viral">recent</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3559034/">distant past</a> they’ve also given rise to collective unrest, confusion and resistance. So after all this time, what do we know about the role public health communication plays in helping people understand and adhere to protective measures in a crisis? And more importantly, in an age of misinformation and distrust, how can we improve public health messaging for any future pandemics? Last year, we published a <a href="https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD015144/full">Cochrane review</a> exploring the global evidence on public health communication during COVID and other infectious disease outbreaks including SARS, MERS, influenza and Ebola. Here’s a snapshot of what we found. <h2>The importance of public trust</h2> A key theme emerging in analysis of the COVID pandemic globally is public trust – or lack thereof – in governments, public institutions and science. Mounting evidence suggests <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/01/trust-lancet-covid-study/">levels of trust in government</a> were <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)00172-6/fulltext">directly proportional</a> to fewer COVID infections and higher vaccination rates across the world. It was a crucial factor in people’s willingness to follow public health directives, and is now a key focus for future pandemic preparedness. Here in Australia, public trust in governments and health authorities steadily eroded over time. Initial information from governments and health authorities about the unfolding COVID crisis, personal risk and mandated protective measures was generally clear and consistent across the country. The establishment of the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1920/Quick_Guides/AustralianCovid-19ResponseManagement#_Toc38973752">National Cabinet</a> in 2020 signalled a commitment from state, territory and federal governments to consensus-based policy and public health messaging. During this early phase of relative unity, <a href="https://theconversation.com/inflation-covid-inequality-new-report-shows-australias-social-cohesion-is-at-crossroads-195198">Australians reported</a> higher levels of belonging and trust in government. But as the pandemic wore on, public trust and confidence fell on the back of conflicting state-federal pandemic strategies, blame games and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-lost-the-plot-on-covid-messaging-now-governments-will-have-to-be-bold-to-get-us-back-on-track-186732">confusing fragmentation</a> of public health messaging. The divergence between <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/tale-of-two-cities-gripped-by-covid-fear-outbreak/news-story/cf1b922610aeb0b0ee9b0b53486bf640">lockdown policies and public health messaging</a> adopted by <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/a-tale-of-two-cities-that-doesn-t-seem-fair-20211012-p58z79.html">Victoria and New South Wales</a> is one example, but there are plenty of others. When state, territory and federal governments have conflicting policies on protective measures, people are easily confused, lose trust and become harder to engage with or persuade. Many tune out from partisan politics. Adherence to mandated public health measures falls. Our research found clarity and consistency of information were key features of effective public health communication throughout the COVID pandemic. We also found public health communication is most effective when authorities work in partnership with different target audiences. In Victoria, the case brought against the state government for the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-24/melbourne-public-housing-tower-covid-lockdown-compensation/102640898">snap public housing tower lockdowns</a> is a cautionary tale underscoring how essential considered, tailored and two-way communication is with diverse communities. <h2>Countering misinformation</h2> Misinformation is <a href="https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/hydroxychloroquine-australia-cautionary-tale-journalists-and-scientists">not a new problem</a>, but has been supercharged by the advent of <a href="https://theconversation.com/health-misinformation-is-rampant-on-social-media-heres-what-it-does-why-it-spreads-and-what-people-can-do-about-it-217059">social media</a>. The much-touted “miracle” drug <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22663127/ivermectin-covid-treatments-vaccines-evidence">ivermectin</a> typifies the extraordinary traction unproven treatments gained locally and globally. Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic drug, lacking evidence for viruses like COVID. Australia’s drug regulator was forced to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/sep/10/australian-drug-regulator-bans-ivermectin-as-covid-treatment-after-sharp-rise-in-prescriptions">ban ivermectin presciptions</a> for anything other than its intended use after a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/30/australian-imports-of-ivermectin-increase-10-fold-prompting-warning-from-tga">sharp increase</a> in people seeking the drug sparked national shortages. Hospitals also reported patients <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/sep/02/sydney-covid-patient-in-westmead-hospital-after-overdosing-on-ivermectin-and-other-online-cures">overdosing on ivermectin</a> and cocktails of COVID “cures” promoted online. The <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01585-9/fulltext">Lancet Commission</a> on lessons from the COVID pandemic has called for a coordinated international response to countering misinformation. As part of this, it has called for more accessible, accurate information and investment in scientific literacy to protect against misinformation, including that shared across social media platforms. The World Health Organization is developing resources and recommendations for health authorities to address this “<a href="https://www.who.int/health-topics/infodemic#tab=tab_1">infodemic</a>”. National efforts to directly tackle misinformation are vital, in combination with concerted efforts to raise health literacy. The Australian Medical Association has <a href="https://www.ama.com.au/media/action-needed-tackle-health-misinformation-internet-social-media">called on the federal government</a> to invest in long-term online advertising to counter health misinformation and boost health literacy. People of all ages need to be equipped to think critically about who and where their health information comes from. With the rise of AI, this is an increasingly urgent priority. <h2>Looking ahead</h2> Australian health ministers recently <a href="https://www.cdc.gov.au/newsroom/news-and-articles/australian-health-ministers-reaffirm-commitment-australian-cdc">reaffirmed their commitment</a> to the new Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC). From a science communications perspective, the Australian CDC could provide an independent voice of evidence and consensus-based information. This is exactly what’s needed during a pandemic. But full details about the CDC’s funding and remit have been the subject of <a href="https://www.croakey.org/federal-budget-must-deliver-on-climate-health-and-the-centre-for-disease-control-sector-leaders-warn/">some conjecture</a>. Many of our <a href="https://www.cochraneaustralia.org/articles/covidandcommunications">key findings</a> on effective public health communication during COVID are not new or surprising. They reinforce what we know works from previous disease outbreaks across different places and points in time: tailored, timely, clear, consistent and accurate information. The rapid rise, reach and influence of misinformation and distrust in public authorities bring a new level of complexity to this picture. Countering both must become a central focus of all public health crisis communication, now and in the future. This article is part of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/the-next-pandemic-160343">series on the next pandemic</a>.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226718/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/shauna-hurley-203140">Shauna Hurley</a>, PhD candidate, School of Public Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rebecca-ryan-1522824">Rebecca Ryan</a>, Senior Research Fellow, Health Practice and Management; Head, Centre for Health Communication and Participation, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/la-trobe-university-842">La Trobe University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-can-we-improve-public-health-communication-for-the-next-pandemic-tackling-distrust-and-misinformation-is-key-226718">original article</a>.

Technology

Michael Mosley used science communication to advance health and wellbeing. We can learn a lot from his approach

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-ball-14718">Lauren Ball</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kirsten-adlard-684475">Kirsten Adlard</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> Overnight, we learned of the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-09/michael-mosley-body-found-greek-island-clare-bailey-mosley/103957382">tragic passing</a> of Michael Mosley, who went missing last week while on holiday on the Greek island of Symi. The British celebrity doctor was a household name in many countries, including Australia. Mosley was well known for his television shows, documentaries, books and columns on healthy eating, weight management, physical activity and sleep. During the days he was missing and once his death was confirmed, media outlets have acknowledged Mosley’s <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/michael-mosley-tv-doctor-death-b2558717.html">career achievements</a>. He is being celebrated for his connection to diverse public audiences and his unrelenting focus on science as the best guide to our daily habits. <h2>From medicine to the media</h2> Mosley was born in India <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8770jyz6vvo">in 1957</a> and was sent to England at age seven to attend boarding school. He later studied philosophy, politics and economics at the <a href="https://michaelmosley.co.uk/biog/">University of Oxford</a>. After a short stint in investment banking, Mosley opted to train in medicine at the Royal Free Hospital in London. Rather than forging a career in clinical practice, <a href="https://michaelmosley.co.uk/biog/">Mosley</a> started working at the BBC in 1985 as a trainee assistant producer. In the decades that followed, Mosley continued to work with the BBC as a producer and presenter. Mosley became a popular public figure by applying his medical training to journalism to examine a breadth of health and wellbeing topics. In 1995, following his documentary on <a href="https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/baf970949e3a46a992ae52420395a7c2">Helicobacter pylori</a>, a bacterium that causes ulcers in the stomach, the British Medical Association named him <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/2kczjZKp8sGSDxSxKYzxsyr/michael-mosley">medical journalist of the year</a>. His other television work on diet, weight management, exercise and sleep earned him <a href="https://www.emmys.com/bios/michael-mosley">Emmy</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0608839/awards/">BAFTA</a> (the British Academy of Film and Television Arts), and <a href="https://rts.org.uk/tags/michael-mosley">Royal Television Society</a> <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/2kczjZKp8sGSDxSxKYzxsyr/michael-mosley">award nominations</a>. Over the past decade, Mosley published <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Fast-Diet-Original-Revised-Research/dp/1780722370/ref=sr_1_6?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.75_akcxo8tanyLrD4CVMwd1lCTliHyckSLPU2W7K4HmdPqRlVqvMbKWKkJ6CPCsrFsAw4Vfw5SWOYkl_Y8ah4yNCSjQksdT3ByCSHhiycNB9AB5h6vVUqB99okxDDWPaXUCwD-CZMzHZDvAjuAotTN">several books</a> on <a href="https://www.fishpond.com.au/Books/Fastexercise-Michael-Mosley-Peta-Bee-With/9781476759982?utm_source=googleps&utm_medium=ps&utm_campaign=AU&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw34qzBhBmEiwAOUQcF3wd7d1bj8KMFeEtKS6ZU7py5rRzjiycZhcsMbSEQ9lXhjEBcY4GRxoCwgIQAvD_BwE">exercise</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/8-Week-Blood-Sugar-Diet-Recipe/dp/1925456595/ref=sr_1_7?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.75_akcxo8tanyLrD4CVMwd1lCTliHyckSLPU2W7K4HmdPqRlVqvMbKWKkJ6CPCsrFsAw4Vfw5SWOYkl_Y8ah4yNCSjQksdT3ByCSHhiycNB9AB5h6vVUqB99okxDDWPaXUCwD-CZMzHZDvAjuAotTNxxkW3">healthy eating</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Fast-800-Australian-New-Zealand/dp/B07MPRQWJP/ref=sr_1_8?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.75_akcxo8tanyLrD4CVMwd1lCTliHyckSLPU2W7K4HmdPqRlVqvMbKWKkJ6CPCsrFsAw4Vfw5SWOYkl_Y8ah4yNCSjQksdT3ByCSHhiycNB9AB5h6vVUqB99okxDDWPaXUCwD-CZMzHZDvAjuAotTNxxkW">intermittent fasting</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Weeks-Better-Sleep-life-changing-improved/dp/1761425927/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.75_akcxo8tanyLrD4CVMwd1lCTliHyckSLPU2W7K4HmdPqRlVqvMbKWKkJ6CPCsrFsAw4Vfw5SWOYkl_Y8ah4yNCSjQksdT3ByCSHhiycNB9AB5h6vVUqB99okxDDWPaXUCwD-CZMzHZDvAj">sleep</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Just-One-Thing-Changes-Transform/dp/B0BJVRP94X/ref=sr_1_9?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.75_akcxo8tanyLrD4CVMwd1lCTliHyckSLPU2W7K4HmdPqRlVqvMbKWKkJ6CPCsrFsAw4Vfw5SWOYkl_Y8ah4yNCSjQksdT3ByCSHhiycNB9AB5h6vVUqB99okxDDWPaXUCwD-CZMzHZDvAjuAotTNxxk">behaviour change</a>. He sold millions of copies of his books around the world, including at least <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com.au/p/mosley-1mil-sales">one million</a> in Australia and New Zealand. Alongside his wife, Dr Clare Bailey Mosley, he recently embarked on a <a href="https://michaelmosley.co.uk/live/">live theatre show tour</a>, yet another vehicle to bring his key messages to audiences. <h2>A trusted voice</h2> Mosley became a trusted voice for health and wellbeing throughout his journalistic career. His television program <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04j9gny">Trust Me, I’m a Doctor</a> drew on his medical qualifications to discuss health and wellbeing credibly on a public platform. His medical training also inferred credibility in examining the scientific literature that underpins the topics he was communicating. At the same time, Mosley used simple terminology that captured the attention of diverse audiences. For many of Mosley’s outputs, he used himself as an example. For instance, in his <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09by3yy/episodes/downloads">podcast series</a> Just One Thing and <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Just-One-Thing-Changes-Transform/dp/B0BJVRP94X/ref=sr_1_9?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.75_akcxo8tanyLrD4CVMwd1lCTliHyckSLPU2W7K4HmdPqRlVqvMbKWKkJ6CPCsrFsAw4Vfw5SWOYkl_Y8ah4yNCSjQksdT3ByCSHhiycNB9AB5h6vVUqB99okxDDWPaXUCwD-CZMzHZDvAjuAotTNxxk">companion book</a>, Mosley self-tested a range of evidence-based behavioural habits (while also interviewing subject-matter experts), covering topics such as eating slowly, yoga, listening to music, cooking, gardening and drinking green tea. His focus on intermittent fasting and high-intensity training was fuelled by his <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-08/how-dr-michael-mosley-popularised-intermittent-fasting/103952408">diagnosis of type 2 diabetes</a>, and his work on sleep health was based on his experience <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/sleep-revolution-michael-mosley/okmv5o7qe">with chronic insomnia</a>. At the most extreme end of the spectrum, Mosley <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-25968755">infested himself with tapeworms</a> in the pursuit of exploring their effects on the human body. By using himself as a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/jun/09/michael-mosley-favourite-health-tip-slow-deep-breathing">human guinea pig</a>, he fostered a connection with his audience, showing the <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-personal-touch-using-anecdotes-to-hook-a-reader">power</a> of personal anecdotes. <h2>Some controversies along the way</h2> Despite his notable career achievements, Mosley received ongoing criticisms about his work due to differing opinions within the medical and scientific communities. One key concern was around his promotion of potentially risky diets such as intermittent fasting and other restrictive diets, including the 5:2 diet and low-carb diets. While <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9946909/">some evidence</a> supports intermittent fasting as a way to improve metabolic health and enable weight management, Mosley was criticised for not fully acknowledging the potential risks of these diets, such as a potential to lead to <a href="https://clindiabetesendo.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40842-023-00152-7">disordered eating</a> habits. His promotion of low-carb diets also raised concerns that his work added to a diet-focused <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/lose-a-stone-in-21-days-channel-4-criticism-eating-disorder-food-relationship-beat-a9656531.html">culture war</a>, ultimately to the detriment of many people’s relationship with food and their bodies. More broadly, in his efforts to make scientific concepts simple and accessible to the general public, Mosley was sometimes criticised for overgeneralising science. The concern was that he didn’t properly discuss the nuance and tension inherent in scientific evidence, thereby providing an incomplete synthesis of the evidence. For example, Mosley conceptualised the <a href="https://thebloodsugardiet.com">blood sugar diet</a> (a low-carbohydrate Mediterranean-style diet), which was <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/health-68452019">criticised</a> for lacking a strong grounding in scientific evidence. Similarly, <a href="https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/article/smoke-and-mirrors-the-truth-about-vaping-nmpf3przr">associating his name with e-cigarettes</a> may have drawn unhelpful attention to the topic, irrespective of the underlying details. <h2>What can we learn from Mosley?</h2> Overall, Mosley has been objectively successful in communicating scientific concepts to large, engaged audiences. Mosley showed us that people want to consume scientific information, whether through the news media, social media, podcasts or books. His passion and persistence in using science to promote health and wellbeing have likely supported public health efforts across the globe.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/231934/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-ball-14718">Lauren Ball</a>, Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kirsten-adlard-684475">Kirsten Adlard</a>, Supervisor of Engagement, Communication, and Outreach, Centre for Community Health and Wellbeing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> Image credits: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock Editorial This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/michael-mosley-used-science-communication-to-advance-health-and-wellbeing-we-can-learn-a-lot-from-his-approach-231934">original article</a>.

Caring

"You've restored my faith": Community shows up for lonely birthday boy

One dad's desperate plea has "restored" his faith after his local community showed up for his son's third birthday party. Pre-schooler William Buck and his dad Steven sat patiently on a beach in Wellington, waiting for his friends to arrive and begin the celebrations for his third birthday party. As time passed, William and his dad grew more hopeless, and they worried about the fate of the celebrations. "He kept asking where everyone was, and we were like 'they’re coming soon'," Steven Buck told <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/wellbeing/parenting/133203054/familys-plea-after-nobody-shows-at-3yearolds-birthday-brings-community-to-beach" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" data-i13n="cpos:2;pos:1" data-ylk="slk:Stuff;cpos:2;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0" data-rapid_p="9" data-v9y="1">Stuff</a>. Steven felt "guilty" that none of his son's mates had come to the party, especially given how excited his son had been for this birthday, as he had been talking about the celebration for weeks. In a last ditch effort to make William's day special, Steven turned to social media for help. Steven posted an image of the pair online and invited any locals wanting "some sun and sand" to join them. "William would love some friends to play with. He has Hot Wheels, sand toys, dinos, and we have some snacks and drinks. Any and all welcome," he wrote. Amazingly, locals responded in their thousands, wishing William a 'Happy Birthday' while many others joined the three-year-old and his parents. "Going there. See you soon," one local wrote, before arriving with her family. The partygoers arrived with bubbles and inflatables, parking themselves down on beach chairs ready to celebrate the sunny day with William. "Thank you so much everyone for the birthday wishes and support," Steven wrote online after the day. "Wellington you always restore my faith in humanity!" Image credits: Facebook

Family & Pets

The transformative power of effective communication

Effective communication can be hard and it’s not something that can come easily to us. Yet it's an important tool to invest in as it can have a profound impact on relationship healing, self-discovery and navigating life’s challenges. While the significance of good communication resonates at any stage in life, its value becomes even more pronounced as we age, emerging as an increasingly invaluable tool for fostering understanding, connection, and resilience in both our romantic, and platonic relationships. Jacqui Manning is a Resident Psychologist at Connected Women, an organisation that facilitates friendships for women over 50 through a range of online and in-person events. Here, Jacqui shares how effective communication can elevate and enrich your life across various scenarios and shares her top tips on how to become a more effective communicator. “It’s crucial for us at any stage in life to pause, reflect and make an investment in refining our communication skills, as it’s important to recognise the pivotal role it plays in personal growth and meaningful connections,” explains Jacqui. “While we navigate the complexities of life, effective communication becomes crucial for elevating every interaction, good or bad. Now is the opportune moment to seize the power that effective communication can have and implement it into a multitude of scenarios and day-to-day interactions.” Fixing Broken Friendships Let's talk about something many of us have experienced – the breakdown of a friendship. It’s a universal encounter that resonates with many. Whether you take divergent paths, differ in your evolving priorities or due to unforeseen conflicts, the unravelling of a friendship can be a poignant and challenging chapter in women’s lives. Yet, it is precisely within these moments of fracture that the potential for growth, resilience and renewal emerges. “Effective communication serves as the mender of the fractures within a broken relationship. When nurtured with openness, honesty and empathy, communication allows individuals to express their feelings, share perspectives and understand each other’s needs,” explains Jacqui. “This positive communication fosters a sense of mutual respect, enabling individuals to rebuild trust and create a foundation for a healthier, more resilient friendship. It’s the key to unlocking understanding, finding common ground, and revitalising the emotional bonds that may have been strained. In essence, the power of effective communication lies in its ability to reconcile differences and pave the way for a renewed and strengthened connection.” Navigating Life's Challenges Effective communication isn't just a solution for broken friendships; it's also a compass for when life gets tough. According to Jacqui, when facing obstacles, the act of vocalising your concerns or feelings to a friend or partner can be a transformative experience. “Verbalising your thoughts and feelings not only clarifies your own understanding but also allows those close to you to provide valuable perspective and insights. Sharing your problems takes the weight off your shoulders and offers a sense of relief.” Jacqui continues “In the act of confiding, you not only release the emotional burden but also open the door to shared solutions and a mutual journey towards growth and resilience. It transforms a solitary struggle into a collaborative effort, strengthening the bonds that tie individuals together. Effective communication therefore becomes a powerful tool for not only navigating life’s trails but also for fostering resilience, deepening connections, and finding solace.” Embracing Your True Self In the middle stage of life, many women grapple with questions about who they really are and what they want. Jacqui suggests that effective communication can serve as a powerful tool for self-discovery and acceptance, paving the way to embracing one’s true self. She explains, “When we articulate our thoughts, feelings and aspirations, whether through self-reflection or sharing with others, it brings our authentic identity to the forefront. “In conversations where we openly communicate our values and beliefs, we not only strengthen our understanding of who we are but also create spaces for acceptance and validation. In this process, we find liberation and empowerment and connectedness, as our true self is celebrated and allowed to flourish,” she said. So, how can you become a more effective communicator? Jacqui recommends the following five tips: Empower with Language: Be mindful of your words, choosing language that uplifts and encourages rather than criticises or blames. Language is a powerful tool; use it to empower those around you. Clear Expression: Clearly articulate your feelings and emotions, avoiding assumptions and accusations. Use “I” statements to express your perspective without placing blame, fostering open communication. Empathy: Try to understand how others feel by putting yourself in their shoes and allowing space for others to express themselves fully, resisting the urge to rush to conclusions or judgment or tell a story to explain. Vulnerability: Embrace vulnerability as a source of strength. Don’t be afraid to share your authentic self, including fears, concerns, and challenges, to build trust and strengthen connections with others. Solution Focussed Dialogue: Approach conversations with a focus on finding solutions rather than dwelling on problems. This forward-thinking mindset contributes to a more positive and constructive discourse. Effective communication isn't a one-size-fits-all solution. It's a journey of self-discovery and connection. It has the potential to mend bonds, guide you through life's challenges, and empower you to be your true self. We need to remember to take a step back, re-evaluate our communication and identify areas for improvement. For more information visit <a href="https://www.connectedwomen.net" target="_blank" rel="noopener">connectedwomen.net </a> About Connected Women Jacqui Manning is the resident psychologist at Connected Women, bringing with her over two decades of experience. Founded in 2022, Connected Women facilitates friendships for women over 50 through a range of online and in-person events. With the rising epidemic of loneliness impacting Australians now more than ever - Connected Women aims to provide a community in which women can feel free to be themselves, connect with like-minded women and build life-long friendships. Launched in Perth, Western Australia, Connected Women now also operates in NSW and Victoria, with plans to grow its network to QLD, ACT and SA in the coming year. With a small monthly membership fee, women can join Connected Women events, share and connect over areas of interest, and connect with women in their local areas to arrange meet ups. Whether members prefer big events with lots of action and adventure, or quiet meet ups and walks around the local neighbourhood, Connected Women is committed to providing a safe and inclusive space for women to find their feet and build new friendships in a space that feels most comfortable to them. Image credits: Getty Images

Relationships

Missing Titanic sub: what are submersibles, how do they communicate, and what may have gone wrong?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stefan-b-williams-1448728">Stefan B. Williams</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> An extensive <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65953872">search and rescue operation</a> is underway to locate a commercial submersible that went missing during a dive to the Titanic shipwreck. According to the US Coast Guard, contact with the submersible was lost about one hour and 45 minutes into the dive, with five people onboard. The vessel was <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/titanic-submersible-search-oceangate-expeditions-vessel-missing-as-us-coast-guard-launches-search/9d7352d8-6a6d-4dc1-afac-ce07dc63cea3">reported overdue</a> at 9.13pm local time on Sunday (12.13pm AEST, Monday). The expedition was being run by US company OceanGate as part of an eight-day trip with guests paying US$250,000 per head to visit the wreck site. As of <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/americas/live-news/titanic-submersible-missing-search-06-19-23/h_c2b5400daf8538d8717f50c619d762ac">Monday afternoon</a> (Tuesday morning in Australia), US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said the watercraft likely had somewhere between 70 and the full 96 hours of oxygen available to the passengers. The Titanic’s wreck sits some 3,800 metres deep in the Atlantic, about 700km south of St John’s, Newfoundland. Finding an underwater vehicle the size of a small bus in this vast and remote expanse of ocean will be no small feat. Here’s what the search and rescue teams are up against. <h2>OceanGate’s Titan submersible goes missing</h2> Submersibles are manned watercraft that move in a similar fashion to submarines, but within a much more limited range. They’re often used for research and exploration purposes, including to search for shipwrecks and to document underwater environments. Unlike submarines, they usually have a viewport to allow passengers look outside, and outside cameras that provide a broader view around the submersible. The missing submersible in question is an OceanGate <a href="https://oceangate.com/our-subs/titan-submersible.html">Titan</a> watercraft, which can take five people to depths of up to 4,000m. The Titan is about 22 feet (6.7m) in length, with speeds of about 3 knots (or 5.5km per hour). Although submersibles are often connected to a surface vessel by a tether, video and photos suggest the Titan was likely operating independently of the surface ship. According to OceanGate’s website, the Titan is used “for site survey and inspection, research and data collection, film and media production, and deep-sea testing of hardware and software”. It also has a “real-time hull health monitoring (RTM) system”. This would likely include strain gauges to monitor the health of the Titan’s carbon fibre hull. A strain gauge is a kind of sensor that can measure applied force and small deformations in material resulting from changes in pressure, tension and weight. The Titan’s carbon fibre hull connects two domes made of composite titanium – a material that can withstand deep-sea pressures. At 3,800m below sea level (the depth of the Titanic) you can expect pressures about 380 times greater than the atmospheric pressure we’re used to on the surface of the earth. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532840/original/file-20230620-23-c6k9lo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532840/original/file-20230620-23-c6k9lo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532840/original/file-20230620-23-c6k9lo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532840/original/file-20230620-23-c6k9lo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532840/original/file-20230620-23-c6k9lo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532840/original/file-20230620-23-c6k9lo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532840/original/file-20230620-23-c6k9lo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532840/original/file-20230620-23-c6k9lo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Several tube like shapes on a rectangular concrete platform underwater" /></a><figcaption>Titan on the launch platform underwater, awaiting a signal to commence the dive. <a class="source" href="https://oceangate.com/gallery/gallery-titan.html#nanogallery/titangallery/0/4">OceanGate</a></figcaption></figure> <h2>Communication and rescue efforts</h2> The Titan would have had an acoustic link with its surface vessel, set up through a transponder (a device for receiving a sonar signal) on its end, and a transceiver (a device that can both transmit and receive communications) on the surface vessel. This link allows for underwater acoustic positioning, as well as for short text messages to be sent back and forth to the surface vessel – but the amount of data that can be shared is limited and usually includes basic telemetry and status information. The Titan is a battery-operated watercraft. Given it has lost all contact with its surface vessel, it may have suffered a power failure. Ideally, there would be an emergency backup power source (such as an independent battery) to maintain emergency and life support equipment – but it’s unclear if the missing vessel had any power backup on hand. According to reports, at least two aircraft, a submarine and sonar buoys were being used to search for the vessel. The sonar buoys will be listening for underwater noise, including any emergency distress beacons that may have gone off. One of the major challenges in the rescue effort will be contending with weather conditions, which will further shrink an already narrow search window. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532842/original/file-20230620-49349-cnzdk6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532842/original/file-20230620-49349-cnzdk6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532842/original/file-20230620-49349-cnzdk6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532842/original/file-20230620-49349-cnzdk6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532842/original/file-20230620-49349-cnzdk6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532842/original/file-20230620-49349-cnzdk6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532842/original/file-20230620-49349-cnzdk6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532842/original/file-20230620-49349-cnzdk6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="A dark blue image with a tube like shape floating in the lower third" /></a><figcaption>Titan commencing a dive to 4,000m underwater. <a class="source" href="https://oceangate.com/gallery/gallery-titan.html#nanogallery/titangallery/0/1">OceanGate</a></figcaption></figure> <h2>What might have happened?</h2> In a best case scenario, the Titan may have lost power and will have an inbuilt safety system that will help it return to the surface. For instance, it may be equipped with additional weights that can be dropped to instantly increase its buoyancy and bring it back to the surface. Alternatively, the vessel may have lost power and ended up at the bottom of the ocean. This would be a more problematic outcome. The worst case scenario is that it has suffered a catastrophic failure to its pressure housing. Although the Titan’s composite hull is built to withstand intense deep-sea pressures, any defect in its shape or build could compromise its integrity – in which case there’s a risk of implosion. Another possibility is that there may have been a fire onboard, such as from an electrical short circuit. This could compromise the vehicle’s electronic systems which are used for navigation and control of the vessel. Fires are a disastrous event in enclosed underwater environments, and can potentially incapacitate the crew and passengers. Time is of the essence. The search and rescue teams will need to find the vessel before its <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230331121053/https://oceangateexpeditions.com/tour/titanic-expedition/">limited supplies</a> of oxygen and water run out. There’s an ongoing debate in scientific circles regarding the relative merit of manned submersibles, wherein each deployment incurs a safety risk – and the safety of the crew and passengers is paramount. Currently, most underwater research and offshore industrial work is conducted using unmanned and robotic vehicles. A loss to one of these vehicles might compromise the work being done, but at least lives aren’t at stake. In light of these events, there will likely be intense discussion about the risks associated with using these systems to support deep-sea tourism.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208100/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stefan-b-williams-1448728">Stefan B. Williams</a>, Professor, Australian Centre for Field Robotics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/missing-titanic-sub-what-are-submersibles-how-do-they-communicate-and-what-may-have-gone-wrong-208100">original article</a>. Images: Getty

Technology

Calling drag queens ‘groomers’ and ‘pedophiles’ is the latest in a long history of weaponising those terms against the LGBTIQA community

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/timothy-w-jones-11557">Timothy W. Jones</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/la-trobe-university-842">La Trobe University</a> Drag queens around the world are currently being accused of “grooming children” through <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_Queen_Story_Hour">drag storytime events</a>. These accusations curiously associate public book reading with child sex offending. We know from <a href="https://publishing.monash.edu/product/the-sexual-abuse-of-children/">decades of research and inquiries</a> the places that young people are most at risk of sexual victimisation are their home or an institution of care (such as a school, orphanage or church). The people that most often offend against children are family members and care providers. However, this recent panic about drag queens reading in public libraries is actually typical in the history of child sexual abuse. This history has involved repeated moral panics that distract from the alarming data regarding child sexual abuse in the home. Instead, these narratives locate the threat to children outside of the home - to gay men, “stranger danger” and even satanic ritual abuse - rather than confronting the situations and protecting children where they are most at risk. <h2>Moral panic</h2> In the 1970s, feminist attention to domestic violence, sexual assault and the patriarchy created the conditions that enabled the sexual assault of children in the home to be put in the spotlight. It wasn’t long, however, before attention was shifted elsewhere. In the 1980s, fears about a new form of abuse spread. <a href="https://theconversation.com/satanic-worship-sodomy-and-even-murder-how-stranger-things-revived-the-american-satanic-panic-of-the-80s-186292">Satanic ritual abuse</a> was thought to involve large numbers of victims and perpetrators, but was <a href="https://guilfordjournals.com/doi/pdf/10.1521/jscp.1997.16.2.112">“so cloaked in secrecy and involve such precise concealment of evidence that almost no one knew about it”</a>. Satanic ritual abuse captured headlines and people’s imaginations with tales of particularly painful, depraved and degrading practices. Research has shown that reports of abuse initially came from adults who “regained memories” of experiences of satanic abuse in their childhoods. Additional reports clustered in the periods after media attention on initial cases. The consensus in medical literature that emerged in the 1990s was there was a tendency of some individuals, especially clients of particular psychotherapists, to manufacture memories of abuse which never occurred. Corroborating evidence of abuse was not found, leading sceptics to account for these <a href="https://journals-sagepub-com.ez.library.latrobe.edu.au/doi/epdf/10.2466/pms.1994.78.3c.1376">“pseudomemories” through “misdiagnosis, and the misapplication of hypnosis, dreamwork, or regressive therapies”</a>. Subsequently, the <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Organised-Sexual-Abuse/Salter/p/book/9781138789159?gclid=CjwKCAjwjYKjBhB5EiwAiFdSflzGRpk-QL7yO8HrAOZbbtD-okQbGIOYC47WI3m-obre71DXVhs7_hoCfwcQAvD_BwE">satanic ritual abuse controversy</a> and “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0924933816020824">false memory syndrome</a>” have been used to discredit hard-fought feminist recognition of the gravity of child sex offending <h2>A deviant lifestyle</h2> There is also a long history of using paedophilia and ideas about child grooming in homophobic and transphobic ways to oppose the recognition of the civil rights of LGBTIQA people. Campaigns to decriminalise homosexuality often struggled against attempts to impose unequal ages of consent in reform legislation. In 1967, for example, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_Offences_Act_1967">homosexuality was decriminalised in England and Wales</a>, but men had to wait until they were 21 to legally consummate their love, five years longer than straight lovers. In Tasmania, <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/The_Pink_Triangle.html?id=Wp6cPAAACAAJ&redir_esc=y">the last Australian state to decriminalise sex between men</a> (in 1997), a heated public debate frequently raised issues of child protection. Letters to newspapers claimed that decriminalisation “would only open the floodgates and allow the very young to become prey to those who have chosen to lead this deviant lifestyle”. The idea was that young people are vulnerable to becoming homosexual and shouldn’t be allowed to consent to sexual activity until they were much older than their heterosexual peers. Sitting behind this notion of the vulnerability of young queer people is the <a href="https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbtq/orientation">false idea</a> that LGBTIQA status is a sign of moral failing, illness or perversion. Further, it perpetuates the myth that queerness or transness is somehow transmissible. This is the somewhat fantastical idea that everybody has the latent potential to become queer or trans, and all that is needed to convert is exposure to a queer or trans person. These fears have fuelled repressive legislation, such as the notorious <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/27/section-28-protesters-30-years-on-we-were-arrested-and-put-in-a-cell-up-by-big-ben">Section 28</a> in Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s Britain, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/graphics/UGANDA-LGBT/movakykrjva/">Ugandan</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_gay_propaganda_law">Russian</a> laws banning the promotion of homosexuality, and the “<a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/02/17/florida-advances-dont-say-gay-bill?gclid=Cj0KCQjwsIejBhDOARIsANYqkD1-IyOtYIl1WefomHHCyNZ0t88GRQTVciS7iJFoUslPSu4In5ayS3IaAqadEALw_wcB">don’t say gay</a>” laws in the United States. Ironically, these strange and harmful ideas are also behind the ineffective, discredited and dangerous attempts to change or suppress LGBTIQA people’s sexuality or gender identity. In these instances of so-called “conversion therapy”, it is <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/SexualOrientation/IESOGI/Academics/Equality_Australia_LGBTconversiontherapyinAustraliav2.pdf">often religious conservatives</a> who <a href="https://www.latrobe.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/1201588/Healing-spiritual-harms-Supporting-recovery-from-LGBTQA-change-and-suppression-practices.pdf">“groom” young LGBTIQA people</a> in attempts to make them straight and cisgendered. Such change and suppression practices are now thankfully <a href="https://www.humanrights.vic.gov.au/change-or-suppression-practices/about-the-csp-act/#:%7E:text=Practices%20that%20seek%20to%20change,preventing%20and%20responding%20to%20them.">against the law</a> in many jurisdictions around the world. <h2>A kinder and gentler future</h2> Despite periodic moral panics, the history of gender and sexuality since 1970 tends towards a kinder, gentler future. People have generally become more accepting of LGBTIQA people’s human rights, and are more welcoming and celebrating of sexual and gender diversity. The pace of change has been fast, however, and some groups of people haven’t gotten used to contemporary community standards of acceptance, such as the move towards marriage equality around the world. Because of this history of growing acceptance, young people are feeling more comfortable and safer to explore their identities at younger ages. They are thus more visible than they used to be in the past. However, they’re also more vulnerable as they explore sensitive aspects of their inner selves at younger and potentially less resilient ages. <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13178-021-00615-5">Research shows</a> the impacts that homophobic and transphobic messaging can have on young people, proving they need to be protected from this harmful rhetoric – not from drag queens. Drag storytime events are an age-appropriate way to celebrate diversity. They benefit all children – gay, straight, transgender and cisgender – with education about consent, human dignity, self determination and human rights. This <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14681811.2021.1978964">knowledge is one of the best protective factors</a> against child victimisation.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205648/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/timothy-w-jones-11557">Timothy W. Jones</a>, Associate Professor in History, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/la-trobe-university-842">La Trobe University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/calling-drag-queens-groomers-and-pedophiles-is-the-latest-in-a-long-history-of-weaponising-those-terms-against-the-lgbtiqa-community-205648">original article</a>.

Caring

How an inspired moment led to a creative new path after retirement

Seventy-year-old Bruce Blomfield is an inspirational character who decided to pursue his passion for yoga when he retired. Here 54-year-old yoga instructor, Tracy Adshead, interviews Bruce about his story and why he thinks that yoga offers something for everyone. Tracy: How did it all start? Bruce: When I decided to retire in 2014, I joined a yoga group on a trip to Nepal, where we assisted with resource development in a remote village and also practiced yoga with the spectacular Himalayas as a backdrop. Our yoga teacher on the trip was very enthusiastic about the success she was having with her chair yoga classes for seniors in her Australian hometown. This got me thinking – maybe this was something I could work toward as a retirement pursuit and offer as a service to other seniors in my community. Tracy: As someone over 60 were there any particular challenges to completing the teacher training? Bruce: I had a ‘mid-life crisis’ about 20 years ago and changed career direction, this entailed quite a bit of academic study which I thrived on. However, when I launched into the academic content of the yoga teacher training, along with the physical and emotional challenges, the brain took some ‘serious encouragement’ to take up the challenge; bit of a wake-up call. My brain believed it had been pensioned off! Anything worthwhile requires effort and the teacher-training programme certainly endorsed this! Squatting on the floor for long periods with my old bones was interesting and it quickly forced my brain and body out of retirement mode. Physical, mental/academic and emotional challenges meant I had to dig deep but the rewards have been enriching in every way – new friendships, a renewed personal commitment and confidence. What I experienced was an ongoing ‘tension’ between challenging myself with new mental, emotional and physical tasks whilst at the same time needing to offer myself, and my body forgiveness, along with a lot of self-love, when some parts were out of reach! Tracy: Have your experiences of teaching or practicing yoga changed your view of ageing at all? Bruce: I took up yoga about 14 years ago largely due to injuries from a 30+ year farming career – including a hip replacement. As I age and my yoga journey progresses, I gain great confidence and solace from the physical and mental benefits that yoga provides me with. Yoga offers something for everyone – there is no need to vegetate due to restricted mobility, or some form of physical incapacitation. I believe now that ageing does require you to maintain a certain non-judgemental demeanour about yourself as you stumble through. Tracy: What advice would you offer anyone approaching retirement about pursuing a new venture? Bruce: Probably for the first time in your life you can really ‘go with the flow’ – if you have a passion for something - give it a shot. Whether it works or not the experience is a huge growth curve – you learn so much about yourself. Maintain self-love it will bring you contentment, as I mentioned - anything worthwhile requires effort! Take a deep breath and give it a go. Tracy: What are you up to when you're not teaching yoga? Bruce: My wife and I have three children and six grandchildren who are a big part of our lives. We like to travel each year and spend time with friends. I also read, swim and have a gym routine which I practice on a regular basis. And of course now I’m very involved in my community teaching Chair Yoga at our local retirement village. I’m not sure who motivates who – but we have a blast during these classes! Images: Getty

Retirement Life

“Such intimacy is rare in everyday life”: The benefits of playing music can’t be understated

Whether you’re driving in the car, riding in a lift, or attending a concert, music is everywhere. For many, our involvement in creating music stopped outside of high school music classes and attempts to learn the recorder, keyboard, guitar, or to sing. Or it might have included playing in the school band, taking music lessons as a child, or maybe even continuing to play at university. But playing music is something that often falls to the wayside as we get older, with the demands of work, home and family taking priority. Given that playing music has benefits for our mental health, including easing anxiety and depression, feelings of satisfaction with life and health, and even reduced alexithymia - a dysfunction affecting emotional awareness, social attachment and how we relate to others - it’s an activity that many of us can reap benefits from. For Stephen O’Doherty, the conductor and musical director of Golden Kangaroos Concert Band, music has been an outlet for expressing himself creatively and maintaining his wellbeing - and he has seen similar effects in many of the players he works and plays with. “Having outlets to express myself creatively through musical performance has been absolutely essential in maintaining my wellbeing and having a stable quality of life,” he tells OverSixty. “The (Golden Kangaroos) have many members who have joined later in life. For some it is a chance to take up the same opportunity they gave their children, encouraging them to learn music at school and wishing they could have done the same. “For others it is the idea that playing music will help them to keep their brains active as they enter later life. For others, or perhaps for all of the above, joining a community band is a way of finding their tribe, their people, a safe place where people of a like mind can learn, grow, and contribute together. “Knowing the many life stories of our members, I can say with absolute alacrity that band contributes to their identity and self-fulfilment in ways that may never be explicitly known but are formative and extremely significant.” <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/12/gks0.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> With the benefits of playing music established, taking music into a community environment brings with it additional benefits to our wellbeing. In a study <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1163211.pdf">published</a> in the London Review of Education, Dr Debra Rodgers, whose PhD focused on community music and mental health-related stigma, argued that community music can be beneficial in helping both to distract participants from their personal worries and as a place where they can interact without fear or judgement. O’Doherty agrees, adding that playing in a group is a way for many to truly be themselves. “We know that learning music has beneficial effects intellectually and emotionally. Learning or performing with others adds a social dimension that, I think, is critically important,” he says. “At its best, playing in a well-run musical group helps us to express our emotions in a safe and structured way, and that is good for the soul. We are part of something bigger than ourselves and, when we play for an audience, we are (hopefully) gifting them a great experience. Enriching others also enriches us. “For many, band is the place where they are most fulfilled. Where their contribution matters. Where they will be missed if absent. Where they are safe when expressing their creativity. “To play music alone is good. It is personally satisfying and should not be underrated. But to play with others and achieve a pleasing outcome for an audience is a whole new level. It both fosters and requires a level of interpersonal communication between performers that is beyond words. “Such intimacy is rare in everyday life. It enriches the human experience in a unique and very special way.” <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/12/gks2.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> For O’Doherty, playing music has had added benefits when it comes to his own mental health, including managing the symptoms of depression. “Depression is a serious and debilitating condition which, untreated, will attack our self-worth and seriously affect our quality of life. I have lived with this condition for my entire life,” he explains. “... if I can’t perform music I am not being fully me. I am somehow less than whole. Music is a way I find wholeness, an acceptance of who I am and of what I can contribute to the world around me. “When a black mood sets in and starts attacking my self-worth, playing music is one of the few things that can restore me, and I find joy and purpose in seeing the beneficial impact on the members of our group.” As for those who may have played music in the past or have always wanted to learn, O’Doherty suggests finding a safe place to give it a go. “Many people go through the stage of leaving their earlier musical learning behind. After school or Uni life gets busy!” he says. “I want to encourage people however to think about this: when you were the best version of yourself, was performing music part of the equation? If the answer is yes (or even maybe) then do you not owe it to yourself and your loved ones to return? And if you’ve not yet tried to learn an instrument but have a yearning desire to express your creative instincts in this way, what do you have to lose? “Find a safe place to explore your interest and give it a go! Creative expression is part of what it is to be truly human. Perhaps music is your pathway to a more fulsome life.” Images: Stuart Coster (Supplied)

Mind

Rafael Nadal celebrates the arrival of his baby boy

Beloved tennis superstar Rafael Nadal has become a father for the first time. Wife Mery Perello has given birth to a baby boy. Spanish media said Perello, known as “Xisco” gave birth in a clinic on the island of Mallorca where the family currently reside. Nadal and Perello tied the knot in 2019 after being together for many years, with Nadal hinting time and time again about becoming a father. He never confirmed an expected arrival date. Nadal’s PR firm said they will not comment on his personal affairs, when asked by The Associated Press. Novak Djokovic was quoted as congratulating Nadal following a match in Kazakhstan. “Congrats! I didn’t know. Really?” the Serbian said. “It’s a beautiful news. I wish his wife and baby a lot of health and happiness. “As a father, I’m not gonna give any advice to him. He has a big family. I’m sure he will experience himself.” Nadal had broken the silence regarding his personal life, when he addressed rumours about the impending arrival date at Wimbledon. “If everything goes well, I’m going to be a father,” Nadal said in Mallorca. “I’m not used to talking about my private life. We live more peacefully with a lower profile. I don’t expect that my life will change much with it." Image: Getty

Family & Pets

The largest commercial communications array ever has just launched. Expect to see it – it’s huge and bright

On the weekend SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched a giant satellite into space. Called BlueWalker 3, it’s a prototype by American company <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ast-spacemobile-announces-bluewalker-3-123100434.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AST SpaceMobile</a>, which is to create a space-based mobile broadband network. This is only one of multiple satellites planned for the SpaceMobile constellation – <a href="https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/bluewalker-3.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">some even bigger than BlueWalker 3.</a> “The reason why our satellite is large is because in order to communicate with a low-power, low internal strength phone, you just need a large antenna on one side with a lot of power, and so that’s a critical part of our infrastructure,” <a href="https://www.space.com/spacex-bluewalker-3-starlink-satellites-launch-success" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AST SpaceMobile Chief Strategy Officer Scott Wisniewski told Space.com.</a> “We think that’s really important for communicating directly with regular handsets, with no change to the handset, with no extra burdens on the user.” Although this is potentially exciting for those who need that connectivity, astronomers are concerned about just how big and bright this satellite will be. <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2337336-huge-satellite-could-outshine-all-stars-and-planets-in-the-night-sky/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A New Scientist report</a> has even suggested that the satellite “could outshine all stars and planets in the night sky”. This is because the satellite is huge and reflective. Once the satellite unfurls – which it will do in the next few weeks – the antenna will measure 64m2. <div class="newsletter-box"> <div id="wpcf7-f6-p213406-o1" class="wpcf7" dir="ltr" lang="en-US" role="form"> </div> </div> As <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/157410/bluewalker-3-satellite-launches-this-weekend-may-be-bright/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Universe Today notes</a> that’s in the same ballpark as NASA’s Echo-1 sphere launched in 1960. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Echo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">That ‘satelloon’ as</a> it was called, was also reflective, and was easy visible to the naked eye over most of Earth. With plans for a number of these huge satellites, ground based optical telescopes may struggle to image the night sky without disturbance. This is a continuation of worries from a few years ago, <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/spacex-astronomers-warn-over-musks-planned-satellite-constellation/">where SpaceX’s own satellite megaconstellation Starlink</a> began to affect astronomers’ work. The Falcon 9 rocket also included new Starlink satellites<a href="https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/05/13/spacex-passes-2500-satellites-launched-for-companys-starlink-network/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">, which brings the numbers over 2,200 active satellites</a> – which is about half the number of satellites SpaceX wants in orbit. It’s also worth pointing out that around <a href="https://dewesoft.com/daq/every-satellite-orbiting-earth-and-who-owns-them" target="_blank" rel="noopener">half of the satellites currently in orbit are Starlink’s. </a> <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/starlink-already-threatens-optical-astronomy-now-radio-astronomers-are-worried" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Radio astronomers</a> are also nervous. As <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/starlink-is-being-an-absolute-nuisance-to-astronomers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alan Duffy at the time told ScienceAlert</a> “a full constellation of Starlink satellites will likely mean the end of Earth-based microwave-radio telescopes able to scan the heavens for faint radio objects.” Currently, astronomers are building a group to tackle this problem called the ‘IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference’. It’s quite a mouthful, but the problem requires not only technological fixes, but tough conversations with these technology companies to come to a solution for everyone. Luckily, Jeffrey Hall, director of Lowell Observatory in Arizona, US, <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/increasing-concerns-about-crowded-space/">told Cosmos back in 2020,</a> “neither astronomers nor space scientists are strangers to difficult problems.” <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=213406&title=The+largest+commercial+communications+array+ever+has+just+launched.+Expect+to+see+it+%26%238211%3B+it%E2%80%99s+huge+and+bright" width="1" height="1" /> <div id="contributors"> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/bluewalker-launched-spacex-largest-satellite-astronomers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/jacinta-bowler" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jacinta Bowler</a>. Jacinta Bowler is a science journalist at Cosmos. They have a undergraduate degree in genetics and journalism from the University of Queensland and have been published in the Best Australian Science Writing 2022. Image: Getty Images </div>

Technology

15 cruise tips approved by the Over60 community

There’s nothing better than a cruise, but it can be difficult to know what to expect. Here are 15 of the best cruising tips from the Over60 community. Don’t step onboard any cruise ship without reading this advice first. 1. Pam Holland says when you’re on a cruise by yourself it’s important to be careful which cabin you choose: “It's not much fun on a balcony if you travel solo. Much better to take a cheaper room and use the seats/lounges up on deck and watch the sea.” 2. Grace Boland reckons the solution to the post-cruise blues is to, “Just book another one! It’s river cruises for me. Booking my fourth. Don’t like the monster ships now. River cruise ships have spoilt me forever. Magnificent!” 3. Jane Fisher advises on the hidden costs of cruise ships, especially when it comes to drinks, saying, “This is especially important if you travel on any American cruise lines, the prices for alcohol are in US dollars, so your nightly glass of wine ends up being quite expensive.” 4. Nils Gustafsson has some good advice regarding shore excursions: “The most expensive part of your trip is your cruise tours, so book them with the locals when you arrive in each port. They’ll be half the price and less crowded as well. 5. Sandra Woodhouse recommends two items every cruiser should pack, “Two essentials to take on a cruise, an e-reader and a pack of playing cards. Both perfect when the weather is not.” 6. Rosemary Miles says, “There's a lot to be said for only booking with a well-known, large cruise company. There are a number who have been around for years and are well established.” 7. Jac Haines says, “Take out travel insurance as soon as you start paying deposits. Talk to a person and have them highlight in the contract where you are covered for deposits and everything else right down to political turmoil and mother nature.” 8. Diane Green is an advocate of the cabin balcony room, saying: “I always like a balcony room. That is my space. I don't have to share with loads of others. When we cruised through Fiordland, New Zealand, up on deck was like being in a sardine can. I retreated to my balcony, sat in reasonable comfort and had a great view.” 9. Marion Johnson on the other hand, prefers interior cabins, “We prefer interior. Less noise from the hallways. Yes, we have a clock night light but don't take the battery LED lights any more. After all there are lights in the room. We sometimes leave the television on with no sound on the cam station if we want to be up for a new port.” 10. Dianne Barnett has some good packing advice, saying, “When traveling with a partner, always have a photo copy of your passport, Medicare, private health card etc. in each other’s suitcase as well as your own.” 11. Kerrie Sanderson has some important advice on how you should treat cabin crew: “Treat them with respect. Unfortunately, too many passengers treat the staff as servants. One cruise I was on a gentleman sent his boiled eggs back 11 times then ended up throwing them on the floor (I would have pushed his face into them) you just can't please some people.” 12. Judy Kanizay says, “Go prepared and travel smart! Hard to avoid the coughs, colds, tummy bugs but careful preparation can give relief, save grief and money. A local pharmacy can be helpful. A must in my luggage are jar of Vicks plus bottle of apple cider vinegar.” 13. Antoinette Devlin says, “As far as I'm concerned, cruising is the only way to holiday. Not mentioned in the tips is that if you book very early, you can pay the cruise off weekly or monthly. My sister and i have done that and in 2 weeks we start a cruise around Australia for 30 wonderful days. We've paid it of monthly for a year and a half. There's so much you can chose from and it doesn't have to cost money. Things like trivia, listening to music at night etc.” 14. Jannah Foley recommends a trip to Egypt, “I have done this trip twice! It is highly recommended and very affordable. Also, very safe. Egyptians are very hospitable and friendly. I was in Egypt last year and it just gets better every time I go there... and I have been there several times!” 15. Margrit Cameron says, “Cabins are always a bit on the tight side but who cares when all the classy entertainments, the food, the beautiful ocean and the numerous comfy public areas and cafes and bars will keep us happy.” What are your tips for cruising? Have you arranged your travel insurance yet? Tailor your cover to your needs and save money by not paying for things you don’t need. <a href="https://elevate.agatravelinsurance.com.au/oversixty?utm_source=over60&utm_medium=content&utm_content=link1&utm_campaign=travel-insurance">To arrange a quote, click here</a>. For more information about Over60 Travel Insurance, call 1800 622 966. Related links: <a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/travel/cruising/2017/01/6-things-to-try-when-it-rains-on-your-cruise/">6 things to try when it’s raining on your cruise</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/travel/cruising/2017/01/carnival-vista-new-home-docked-in-miami/">World’s most impressive cruise ship to get a new home</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/travel/cruising/2017/01/clever-ways-to-skip-the-queue-on-a-cruise/">6 clever ways to skip the queue on a cruise</a>

Cruising

"If we stop communicating, Putin wins. Propaganda wins": how a Norwegian organisation is supporting Russian protest art

As an international student at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow in 2012, I remember studying Rekviem (requiem) by Russian poet <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/anna-akhmatova">Anna Ahkmatova</a>, an elegy she penned in secret as a tribute to the countless victims of Stalin’s murderous purges. Akhmatova’s writing revived the atrocities, delivering their darkness into the light. Her words spoke of constant fear permeating lives; of distrust, anxiety and betrayal; of the secret police arriving to drag you or your family away. To avoid detection and retribution, Ahkmatova whispered the poem to her friends who committed it to memory. She burned the incriminating scraps of paper. In the first four-and-a-half months following Putin’s attack against Ukraine, over 13,000 anti-war protesters <a href="https://ovdinfo.org/articles/2022/03/07/cracked-heads-and-tasers-results-march-6th-anti-war-protests">were detained</a> in Russia. Some estimates are that <a href="https://meduza.io/feature/2022/05/07/skolko-lyudey-uehalo-iz-rossii-iz-za-voyny-oni-uzhe-nikogda-ne-vernutsya-mozhno-li-eto-schitat-ocherednoy-volnoy-emigratsii">hundreds of thousands</a> fled Russia in early 2022, among them thousands of artists who no longer felt safe in the climate of increasing censorship. Some of these artists have found themselves in Kirkenes, a small Norwegian town 15 kilometres from the Russian border. <h2>Russia’s protest art</h2> Russian and Soviet artists have a long history of art as protest. The poem <a href="https://poets.org/poem/stalin-epigram">Stalin’s Epigram</a> (1933) authored by <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/osip-mandelstam">Osip Mandelstam</a> depicted Stalin as a gleeful killer. Authorities imprisoned and tortured Mandelstam, then deported the poet to a remote village near the Ural Mountains. After returning from exile, he persisted writing about Stalin until he was sent to a labour camp in Siberia, where he died in 1938 at the age of 47. Under the comparatively liberal rule of Stalin’s successor <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/131346?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">Nikita Khrushchev</a> from 1953, the Soviet Union began to enjoy previously unimagined freedoms. Protest art reflected these newfound liberties, becoming increasingly provocative and experimental. Many famous art movements surfaced during this period, including <a href="https://www.moscowart.net/art.html?id=SotsArt">Sots Art</a> — a fusion between Soviet and Pop Art — as Russian artists tested the boundaries, exposing the grim realities and unhappiness of life under Stalin’s regime. In 1962, the legendary composer Shostakovich set his <a href="https://theconversation.com/decoding-the-music-masterpieces-shostakovichs-babi-yar-82819">13th symphony</a> to a series of poems by his contemporary, Yevgeny Yevtushenko. One of these poems was Babi Yar, which criticised the Soviet government for concealing the <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/babi-yar-ukraine-massacre-holocaust-180979687/">massacre of 33,371 Jews</a> in a mass grave outside Kyiv. In contemporary Russia, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/10/world/europe/pussy-riot-russia-escape.html">Pussy Riot</a> came to the attention of the world in 2012 when members stepped behind the altar in Moscow’s golden-domed Christ the Saviour Cathedral wearing neon-coloured balaclavas to deliver a “punk rock prayer”. Their voices echoed off the cavernous, hand-painted ceilings, raging against Putin’s affiliation with the Orthodox church and the homophobic, anti-feminist policies that followed. They were sentenced to two years imprisonment. Today, <a href="https://artreview.com/amidst-a-crackdown-russia-anti-war-artists-and-activists-try-to-reclaim-the-streets/">pictures from Russia</a> reveal anonymous anti-war graffiti on the sides of buildings, “no war” chiselled into a frozen river, and yellow and blue chrysanthemums and tulips left at the feet of Soviet war memorials. <h2>Cross-border collaborations</h2> <a href="https://www.pikene.no/">Pikene på Broen</a> (girls on the bridge) is an arts collective based in Kirkenes. They have spent the past 25 years curating art projects to promote cross-cultural collaboration and tackle political problems in the borderland region. Pikene på Broen is host to the the annual art festival <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barents_Sea">Barents</a> Spektakel (spectacle), an international artist residency including Russian, Norwegian and Finnish creatives, the gallery and project space Terminal B in Kirkenes town, and the debate series Transborder Café. The venue has become a hub for open discussions relating to current political and cultural issues, drawing contributions from artists, musicians, writers, politicians and researchers. Evgeny Goman, an independent theatre director from Murmansk, Russia – about 200 kilometres from Kirkenes – has been collaborating with Pikene på Broen for over 10 years. After moving to Norway in early 2022, Pikene på Broen worked with Goman to organise Kvartirnik (from the word kvartira, meaning apartment), an online talk group for Russian and Norwegian artists to exchange ideas. Following Putin’s attack on Ukraine, Kvartirnik shifted to an underground movement for dissident artists. Ironically, the name Kvartirnik derives from the clandestine concerts arranged <a href="https://www.ciee.org/go-abroad/college-study-abroad/blog/ciee-kvartirnik-understanding-through-music">in people’s apartments</a> during the Soviet Era when musicians were banned from performing in public. <a href="http://deadrevolution.tilda.ws/?fbclid=IwAR2PcaqY7VdLtS1zYUu4JCbD6F36KZ8JKv_FEIYsNeSTE4aKokhV7YpITas">Party of the Dead</a> is one of several Russian protest art groups who participated in Kvartirnik. Pictures from the snow-decked Piskaryovskoye Cemetery in Saint Petersburg reveal members dressed as skeletons, holding placards reading: “are there not enough corpses?”. I spoke with Goman about the art coming out of Kvartirnik today. “In peaceful times, art is more about entertaining,” he says. "But in war and conflict, art is more important because it’s the language we use to express our pain. And through metaphors and symbolism, it allows us to speak about things that are censored." <h2>Countering propaganda</h2> Kvartirnik collaborators in Murmansk have also produced and distributed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samizdat">Samizdat</a> (self-publishing), an anonymous newsletter containing art suppressed by the state. “We have to be really smart now about how we do things in Russia,” Goman says. “Subtle.” Goman is pessimistic about Russia’s future. But he believes the key to moving forward is keeping communication open. He tells me the West’s decision to <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/03/right-way-cancel-russia/627115/">ban Russian culture</a> has backfired on their plan to pressure Putin into ending the war against Ukraine. Instead, he says, the divide is steadily increasing, leaving dissident artists isolated inside a country operating on fear and propaganda, furthering Putin’s agenda. “Putin wants us to not affect Russian minds. And that’s why we have to keep the dialogue going,” he says of the importance of cross-border collaborations like those he has undertaken in Kirkenes. "If we stop communicating, Putin wins. Propaganda wins." Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/if-we-stop-communicating-putin-wins-propaganda-wins-how-a-norwegian-organisation-is-supporting-russian-protest-art-186911" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Art

Young woman reveals what it’s like living in a retirement community

A US woman has taken to social media to share her experiences of living in a retirement community at just 31 years old. Lifestyle blogger Liz White was living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the pandemic when her job became remote, meaning she could work wherever she wanted. After breaking up with her long-term boyfriend, White went to stay with her parents in Florida in a retirement building, where nearly all of the residents are over the age of 55. When an apartment in the building came up for rent, she applied to live there, going through an interview process and agreeing to abide by the rules. “Basically, I am retired in my soul, but not in my bank account that requires me to have a full-time job,” she shared in her latest video on <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@lizwizdom/video/7127470393702714670?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TikTok</a>. “Another unit became available for rent in the building, and the rest is history.” White explained that it helped that most of the residents already knew her when she went to apply for the unit, and that there isn’t an “enforced age minimum” for those who live there. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/08/liz-retiree-1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> Liz White moved into the retirement building after staying with her parents there during the pandemic. Image: @LizWhizdom (Instagram) Since moving in, White has posted numerous videos where she gives followers tours of the building and its amenities, including water views, a heated pool that is “still too cold for residents”, a communal herb garden, a gym, and a library room for book and puzzle swapping. Though her situation seems too good to be true, White pointed out that most of the machines in the gym are broken. She has also detailed the rules residents must follow, admitting that she has broken a few from time to time. “One rule is you cannot back into parking spots,” she said. “You have to park front forward. I love this rule because I personally believe backing into parking spots is a red-flag personality trait, but that's just me.” White explained that a select few spots that are in the shade which are given out by seniority, with some residents waiting for over a decade to nab one. “In order for someone to get a covered parking spot, someone else either has to move out or pass away,” she said. “'There's also a rule that if you have an overnight guest, you're technically supposed to put their name up on this bulletin board,”she added. “No comment on if I've ever broken that rule.” <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/08/liz-tiktok.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> Liz White has shared an insight into her life as a 31-year-old in a retirement community, including being a ‘seventh wheel’ on a triple date and being in a ‘feud’ with one of her neighbours. Images: TikTok She has also learned some unspoken social rules while living with her older neighbours. “Every unit has a regular door and a glass door,” she explained. “If you leave the regular door open, that means you are open to visitors. It's kind of like a college dorm. If you see the door shut, that means leave people alone. If it's open, go ahead and go on in.” Though she is the youngest resident by a decades-long margin, White has become friends with many of her neighbours, having visited Austria with one elderly couple and being the “seventh wheel” on a dinner date with three other couples in her time living there. White is also in a “feud” with one of her 79-year-old neighbours, with the issue being the woman is too nice. “She and her husband are so sweet. They invite me over for dinner parties, which are literally three-course home cooked meals with dessert,” she gushed. “They will invite me out to dinner with them. She's constantly giving me little treats and stuff — and I can't keep up.” White explained that her neighbour has done far more nice things for her than she has in return, and has even turned to her viewers for advice on thoughtful things she can do. After many suggested spending time with her neighbour was the best thing she could do, White said she would do that and something extra, opting to give her a nice towel as well. But, the ‘win’ didn’t last for long. “I failed,” she admitted in a follow-up video. “She sent me a sweet test thanking me. She likes it, she's keeping it, and then she knocks on my door ten minutes later and gives me this bracelet. “She says, ‘You can't just give me things in return for me doing nice things for you. That's not how it works.’ And yet, she gives me this,” she added, holding up the bracelet. Image: TikTok

Retirement Life

Not just ramps and doorways – disability housing is about choosing where, how and who you live with

Home ownership among young people is falling sharply, while renters face worrying insecurity. Nowhere is this more pronounced than for the 4.4 million Australians living with a disability and, in particular, the 660,000 plus Australians with an intellectual disability. For the majority of these people, owning a home is impossible without financial support from their families. With the loss of this support, they can find themselves in <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-forgotten-660-000-locked-out-of-home-ownership-74926" target="_blank" rel="noopener">precarious or even abusive situations</a>. Stuck in a cycle of temporary accommodation or forced into group homes (or even nursing homes) <a href="https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/system/files/202203/Overview%20of%20responses%20to%20the%20Group%20homes%20Issues%20paper.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">with little control</a> over where and who they live with. If the entire premise of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is to give people more choice and autonomy over their lives, then that must extend to people’s fundamental needs for appropriate housing. To uphold the <a href="https://accessandinclusionindex.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">access and inclusion</a> rights of people with a disability, their housing needs must be a priority. One alternative gaining traction in Australia is the <a href="https://buildinglifeskills.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">co-design, co-living model</a> which could offer a range of benefits for people living with a disability. Living at the end of the road People in Australia living with a disability have <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-cant-just-leave-it-to-the-ndis-to-create-cities-that-work-to-include-people-with-disability-93419" target="_blank" rel="noopener">less access</a> to services, social activities, and green spaces compared to people without a disability. Over the last decade, market-driven approaches to disability housing in Australia have favoured cost effectiveness and replication, leading to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10901-016-9499-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">limited design diversity, innovation and choice</a>. At a planning level, this has produced <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272366148_Movement_on_Shifting_Sands_Deinstitutionalisation_and_People_with_Intellectual_Disability_in_Australia_1974-2014%20&%20https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/resources/disability-accessibility-and-sustainable-urban-development.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">socially isolated dwellings</a> with inadequate consideration of mobility, access to nature, and access to community spaces and services. We know the built environment around us can have <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/built-environment-and-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener">positive and negative effects on our health</a> – from determining activity levels, to food access, to our contact with nature and social spaces. It also affects the air we breathe, water we drink and shelter from the elements. Residents of highly green neighbourhoods, for instance, have <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5420708_Associations_of_neighbourhood_greenness_with_physical_and_mental_health_Do_walking_social_coherence_and_local_social_interaction_explain_the_relationships" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1.37 and 1.6 times greater odds</a> of better physical and mental health than those who perceive their neighbourhood as less green. Profit-driven design In general, commercial housing developments are not accessible. Designs are driven by costs and wide scale trends. When required, housing may meet the minimum accessibility requirements but almost never considers the end-user needs. This can create inappropriate environments, which then <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275226130_The_Provision_of_Visitable_Housing_in_Australia_Down_to_the_Detail" target="_blank" rel="noopener">require modification</a> for individuals – a wasteful and costly approach. Even housing with the express design purpose of being accessible can fail. A recent survey found <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275226130_The_Provision_of_Visitable_Housing_in_Australia_Down_to_the_Detail" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only 44% of accessible housing</a> complied with the <a href="https://livablehousingaustralia.org.au/design-guidelines/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Liveable Housing Design Guidelines</a>. Conversely, when we focus on <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09638288.2022.2060343" target="_blank" rel="noopener">successful housing projects</a> for people living with a disability, we see common architectural features: inviting communal spaces; private individual dwellings; commercial opportunities for residents; and on-site support. Well-designed buildings “speak” to their environments too – be it the footpath or the grove – and <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/arq-architectural-research-quarterly/article/abs/sustainable-community-and-environment-in-tropical-singapore-highrise-housing-the-case-of-bedok-court-condominium/E65ABF71130F6881C1904F651C1DDA4F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">foster community</a> connection. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> We look forward to working with <a href="https://twitter.com/billshortenmp?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@billshortenmp</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/AustralianLabor?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AustralianLabor</a> to get <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NDIS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NDIS</a> participants the housing they need, when they need it. That means faster, accurate decisions on housing and support. Australians with <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/disability?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#disability</a> deserve the security of living in their own home. <a href="https://t.co/47TULoiptM">pic.twitter.com/47TULoiptM</a> — Summer Foundation (@SummerFoundtn) <a href="https://twitter.com/SummerFoundtn/status/1537601252116381699?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2022</a></blockquote> Could co-housing be the answer? Many recipients of the NDIS would <a href="https://theconversation.com/ndis-needs-the-market-to-help-make-up-at-least-60-shortfall-in-specialist-disability-housing-93479" target="_blank" rel="noopener">like to live independently</a> in their own home but with easy access to onsite support. A connected model could be the answer. <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10901-016-9499-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Co-housing</a> is the idea of semi-communal living that includes shared facilities and public space, self-governance, and design input from potential residents. Studies show how health and well-being is improved by living in deliberate and dedicated co-housing. This may be explained by <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Exploring-the-relationship-between-social-and-Wardle/b4b89ebee41b03434bf2df234930d9e705679b1c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">greater social inclusion and less loneliness</a>. People in co-housing also have reduced care needs compared to those living in conventional circumstances – <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.17269/s41997-018-0163-1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">13% of residents compared to 22%</a>, a gap which widens significantly with age. More research is needed, but there also seems to be a link between less <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263247830_Community_and_Civil_Society_Returns_of_Multi-generation_Cohousing_in_Germany" target="_blank" rel="noopener">chronic disease and lower impairment</a> and co-housing. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> One in four Americans has a serious cognitive or physical disability. Could co-housing change their lives forever? <a href="https://t.co/S0og5JTALe">https://t.co/S0og5JTALe</a> <a href="https://t.co/dMVCCjEUm4">pic.twitter.com/dMVCCjEUm4</a> — Reasons to be Cheerful (@RTB_Cheerful) <a href="https://twitter.com/RTB_Cheerful/status/1304801963645730818?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 12, 2020</a></blockquote> These ideas in practice We were involved as designers of a proposed co-housing project in Perth’s south-east in Western Australia. The idea was instigated by the clients and families of <a href="https://buildingfriendships.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Building Friendships</a>, a disability service provider that facilitates social outings and short trips to assist with developing life skills through community interactions. The project uses co-site selection and co-design sessions with end-users to create better design outcomes and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262690855_Transformational_Practices_in_Cohousing_Enhancing_Residents'_Connection_to_Community_and_Nature" target="_blank" rel="noopener">build social capital</a> from the beginning. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465305/original/file-20220525-13-lxxvsu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465305/original/file-20220525-13-lxxvsu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465305/original/file-20220525-13-lxxvsu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465305/original/file-20220525-13-lxxvsu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465305/original/file-20220525-13-lxxvsu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465305/original/file-20220525-13-lxxvsu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465305/original/file-20220525-13-lxxvsu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465305/original/file-20220525-13-lxxvsu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="artist's image of proposed housing development with trees around" /></a><figcaption>The Perth project is based on a co-housing model. Author provided</figcaption></figure> The design includes 20 private pod houses with a central hub where residents gather, cook, socialise, and learn new skills including gardening in an existing and successful veggie growing enterprise. There are also on-site support services. The project draws inspiration from domestic projects such as <a href="https://www.archdaily.com/625274/walumba-elders-centre-iredale-pedersen-hook-architects" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Walumba Elders Centre</a> in Warman, WA, and international examples such as the <a href="https://www.archdaily.com/981031/group-home-on-hilltop-sogo-aud?ad_source=search&ad_medium=projects_tab" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Group Home on Hilltop</a> in Hachioji, Japan. At the heart of these examples lies good locations, good buildings, and opportunities to live alongside others: community, amenity and quality of space. This shouldn’t really be unusual or remarkable. Fundamental to this approach is simply raising the bar for people living with a disability to that of everyone else.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183523/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/robert-cameron-1328562" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Robert Cameron</a>, Associate Lecturer/Researcher, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-western-australia-1067" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The University of Western Australia</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/daniel-jan-martin-1349031" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daniel Jan Martin</a>, , <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-western-australia-1067" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The University of Western Australia</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emily-van-eyk-1349999">Emily Van Eyk</a>, Lecturer & Architect, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-western-australia-1067" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The University of Western Australia</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-just-ramps-and-doorways-disability-housing-is-about-choosing-where-how-and-who-you-live-with-183523" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>. Image: Getty Images

Real Estate

An Indigenous language could help humans and AI communicate

One of the most challenging problems impeding humans from communicating with Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems could have a unique solution: a language spoken by Indigenous Australians in the NT. Researchers at the University of New South Wales have published a paper explaining how Jingulu - a language spoken by the Jingili people - could be translated directly into commands that both AI and humans can understand. The study, published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2022.944064" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Frontiers in Physics</a>, details how Professor Abbass worked with linguistics expert Associate Professor Eleni Petraki and Dr Robert Hunjet, a member of the Defence Science and Technology Group to create JSwarm, a language inspired by Jingulu. Jingulu uses just three verbs - come, go and do - which also means that the amount of computational power needed to understand the commands is low. “For us, Jingulu is a dream that came true,” Professor Hussein Abbass, the study’s first author, said. “A language that can translate straight into AI commands; a human language that humans can understand; an efficient language in its syntax that reduces computational cost; a language where we can change the context of use without changing its syntax to allow us to transfer the AI between different domains with ease; and a language that is born and used in Australia to support research and innovation that are born and used in Australia.” Professor Abbass works with swarm systems of AI, where groups of robots work together to perform tasks and solve complex problems in a system that draws inspiration from how small numbers of sheepdogs can control large flocks of sheep. “This problem is all about movements in different information and knowledge spaces, including the physical spaces,” Professor Abbass said. “These movements are represented mathematically as elements that get attracted to each other or repulse from each other. For a long time, I have been looking at how we can design the languages used at the interface between the swarm and humans.” Having previously investigated systems that rely on gestures, direct commands, and even music, Professor Abbass said these systems all had their challenges. “They either had a richer language than what we needed or did not map exactly to the mathematics we use for guidance and control,” Dr Abbass said. “This all changed one day when, out of curiosity, I was searching on Google for studies that looked at the syntax of Aboriginal languages. “I encountered a PhD thesis about Jingulu, I started reading it then it did not take much time before it clicked in my head; this language would be perfect for my artificial intelligence-enabled swarm guidance work.” This isn’t the first time Indigenous languages have been applied to interesting problems either, with applications dating back to World War II. “The Aboriginal people have a long history of contributions to the defence of Australia,” Professor Abbass said. “During the Second World War their languages were used for secret communications. Today we are discovering that the wealth and richness of the Aboriginal languages and culture could hold the secret in human-AI interaction.” Image: Getty Images

Technology

Daniel Johns ordered to complete community service over drunk driving incident

Daniel Johns has narrowly avoided jail time with a 10-month intensive corrections order to be served in the community over a high-range drink-driving car crash. The former Silverchair frontman has also been disqualified from driving for seven months and ordered to fit an alcohol-reading interlock device to his car for 24 months when he gets his driver's licence back. In March this year, Johns was charged with high-range drink driving after a head-on crash at North Arm Cove, north of Newcastle. When tested, he returned a blood alcohol reading three times the legal limit. The police report states that Johns was heading north when his SUV crossed onto the wrong side of the Pacific Highway and collided with a light commercial truck travelling in the opposite direction. Both vehicles ended up on a nearby nature strip, with the 51-year-old driver of the van and his 55-year-old female passenger being treated at the scene by paramedics. Johns entered rehabilitation of his own will for four weeks after the crash and the court was told he had not touched alcohol since. In his sentencing submission, defence lawyer Bryan Wrench said his client suffered from complex mental health issues from his time as a child musical star. "He was a very successful musician. He was 14 when that came to him in an unwanted fashion and that came with attacks and vitriol," Mr Wrench said. "He is a recluse, his house is his only safe place." These defence submissions are what helped Johns avoid time behind bars, as Magistrate Ian Cheetham said Johns was best served to continue with psychiatric treatment in the community. "There is no doubt a custodial sentence will not achieve an appropriate result for him or the community," Magistrate Cheetham said. Image credits: Getty Images

Legal

Low-cost gel film pulls clean drinking water from desert air, raising hopes of quenching the world’s driest communities

One in three people lives in <a class="spai-bg-prepared" href="https://www.un.org/en/events/desertification_decade/whynow.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">drylands</a>, areas covering more than 40% of the Earth’s surface that experience significant water shortages. Scientists and engineers have now developed a new material that could help people living in these areas access <a class="spai-bg-prepared" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/water/an-answer-to-the-clean-water-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">clean drinking water</a> by capturing it right out of the atmosphere, according to a new study in Nature Communications. They’ve developed a gel film that costs just $2 per kilogram to produce and can pull water from the air in even the driest climates; 1kg of it can produce more than 6 litres per day in less than 15% relative humidity (RH), and 13 litres in areas with up to 30% RH. Relative humidity is the ratio of the current absolute humidity to the highest possible absolute humidity. So a 100% RH means that the air is completely saturated with water vapour and cannot hold any more. People tend to feel most comfortable between 30% and 50%, and arid climates have less than 30% RH. These results are promising, as previous attempts to pull water from the desert air have typically been energy-intensive and not very efficient. “This new work is about practical solutions that people can use to get water in the hottest, driest places on Earth,” says senior author Guihua Yu, professor of Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas in Austin, US. “This could allow millions of people without consistent access to drinking water to have simple, water-generating devices at home that they can easily operate.” <div class="newsletter-box spai-bg-prepared"> <div id="wpcf7-f6-p192317-o1" class="wpcf7 spai-bg-prepared" dir="ltr" lang="en-US" role="form"> <form class="wpcf7-form mailchimp-ext-0.5.61 spai-bg-prepared resetting" action="/technology/gel-film-desert-drinking-water/#wpcf7-f6-p192317-o1" method="post" novalidate="novalidate" data-status="resetting"> <input class="wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text referer-page spai-bg-prepared" name="referer-page" type="hidden" value="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/" data-value="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/" aria-invalid="false" /> </form> </div> </div> The gel is made with <a class="spai-bg-prepared" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/hydroxypropyl-cellulose" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hydroxypropyl cellulose</a> (HPC) which is produced from cellulose, and a common kitchen ingredient called <a class="spai-bg-prepared" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0141813016310339" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">konjac glucomannan</a>, as well as lithium chloride salt (LiCl). It forms a hydrophilic (water attracting) porous film with a large surface area that collects the water vapour from air. “The gel takes two minutes to set simply. Then, it just needs to be freeze dried, and it can be peeled off the mould and used immediately after that,” explains Weixin Guan, a doctoral student on Yu’s team and a lead researcher of the work. And, because the cellulose is thermo-responsive, it becomes hydrophobic (water repelling) when heated which allows the collected water to be released within 10 minutes through mild heating at 60 °C. This means that the overall energy needed to produce the water is minimised. The film is also flexible, can be moulded into a variety of shapes and sizes, and producing it requires only the gel precursor – which includes all the relevant ingredients poured into a mould. “This is not something you need an advanced degree to use,” says lead author Youhong “Nancy” Guo, a former doctoral student in Yu’s lab and now a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “It’s straightforward enough that anyone can make it at home if they have the materials.” And because it’s so simple, the authors say the challenges of scaling the technology up and achieving mass usage are reduced.  <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" class="spai-bg-prepared" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=192317&title=Low-cost+gel+film+pulls+clean+drinking+water+from+desert+air%2C+raising+hopes+of+quenching+the+world%E2%80%99s+driest+communities" width="1" height="1" />  <div id="contributors"> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/gel-film-desert-drinking-water/">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/imma-perfetto">Imma Perfetto</a>. Imma Perfetto is a science writer at Cosmos. She has a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Science Communication from the University of Adelaide. Image: The University of Texas at Austin/Cockrell School of Engineering </div>

Technology

Community unites to help long-lost teddy find its way home

A teddy bear, thought to be lost in the outback, has been reunited with his family after their appeal for help went viral online. Godron Wilson had been photographing his son’s ‘Pooh’ bear to keep the family entertained on their 5000-kilometre trip from Bowen, north Queensland, to Perth. But, while snapping a photo of the cute stuffed animal on a fence post along the Barrier Highway near Broken Hill, Mr Wilson was “distracted by flies” and drove off with the family - only to realise hours later that the teddy was more than 150km away. Though he decided against going back to retrieve it, he and his wife Lois took to social media to try and find the bear instead. They posted in several Broken Hill Facebook groups asking if someone had seen or picked up the bear, and what came next shocked them. Their appeals for help quickly spread all over the internet. “I was actually quite amazed by the reaction and how many people were following the story,” Mr Wilson told the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-12/lost-teddy-bear-reunited-with-family-after-being-lost-in-outback/101059032" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ABC</a>. Grazier Mitch Rodgers became one of many interested in the story, and took matters into his own hands. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/05/bear2.jpg" alt="" width="862" height="575" /> Mitch Rodgers found the bear and planned to send him home by mail - until he had a better idea. Image: Mitch Rodgers He drove out from Comarto Station near Wilcannia to find the bear - but that’s not where the story ends either. Initially planning to send the bear home by mail, Mr Rodgers and Mr Wilson thought the adventure should continue and decided to find more people who wanted to travel with the bear on its journey home. “Mitch went to great trouble and started to share the story on social media with some great photos,” Mr Wilson said. “The story then took on a life of its own and if it wasn’t for Mitch it probably wouldn’t have got off the ground like it did.” Mr Wilson said the story even gained fans in Scotland, where he has relatives. He said Pooh travelled 150km to Broken Hill, then visited Silverton before heading south to Mildura, Victoria. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/05/bear1.jpg" alt="" width="862" height="575" /> Mitch Rodgers with Pooh. Image: Mitch Rodgers “He then received a lift from a couple to Adelaide and from there flew to Perth,” he said. “I’ll tell you what it took off pretty quick,” Mr Rodgers said. “It was just good to hear that people were getting a bit of joy out of it.” Ben Wilson, 24, has had the bear since he was a baby and is still stunned that so many people went to such great lengths to return the teddy. “I thought that was it, and I was never going to get him back,” he said. “I’m grateful for Mitcch, the Broken Hill community along with anyone and everyone who was involved.” When asked if Pooh would be heading out for another adventure anytime soon, Ben said it was “unlikely”. “He’ll be staying with me until I have my first child and then when he or she gets old enough, I’ll tell them the story of what happened here,” Ben said. “Because it’s not something we’re going to forget anytime soon.” Image: Gordon Wilson

Caring

The pandemic’s gardening boom shows how gardens can cultivate public health

As lockdowns went into effect in the spring of 2020 to slow the spread of the coronavirus, reports emerged of a <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/culture/article/A-comeback-for-victory-gardens-amid-Bay-Area-15177272.php">global gardening boom</a>, with plants, flowers, vegetables and herbs sprouting in backyards and on balconies around the world. The data backs up the narrative: An analysis of Google Trends and infection statistics found that during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, country-by-country interest in gardening, from Italy to India, <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/11/26/opinion/covid-inspired-gardening-was-worldwide-phenomenon/">tended to peak just as infections peaked</a>. Why did so many people find themselves being pulled toward the earth in a time of crisis? And what sort of effect did gardening have on them? <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2022.127483">In a new study</a> conducted with a team of environmental and public health scholars, we highlight the extent to which gardening became a coping mechanism during the early days of the pandemic. Even as restrictions related to COVID-19 have eased, we see some real lessons for the way gardening can continue to play a role in people’s lives. <h2>Dirt, sweat, tranquility</h2> To conduct our study, we used an online questionnaire to survey more than 3,700 respondents who primarily lived in the U.S., Germany and Australia. The group included experienced gardeners and those who were new to the pursuit. More than half of those we surveyed said they felt isolated, anxious and depressed during the early days of the pandemic. Yet more than 75% also found immense value in gardening during that same period. Whether done <a href="https://doi.org/10.3733/ucanr.6720">in cities or out in the country</a>, gardening was almost universally described as a way to either relax, socialize, connect with nature or stay active. More than half of the respondents reported a significant increase in the amount of time they were able to spend gardening. Other respondents found some value in growing their own food, but few felt financially compelled to do so. Instead, most respondents saw gardening as a way to connect with their community and get some exercise. People with more personal difficulties due to COVID-19, like the inability to work or struggling with child care, were more likely to spend more time gardening in their spare time than they had in the past. <h2>The garden as a refuge</h2> In our analysis of written responses to the survey, most gardeners seemed to either experience a heightened sense of joy and reassurance or feel more attuned to the natural world. This seemed to have positive therapeutic and psychological benefits, regardless of age or location. To many people, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wss.2021.100055">gardening became a sort of safe space – a haven from daily worries</a>. One German gardener started seeing their garden as a sanctuary where even “birds felt louder.” “Gardening has been my salvation,” a respondent from the U.S. noted. “I’m very grateful I can surround myself with beauty as a buffer to the depressing news COVID brings each day.” Another German gardener wrote that their garden became their “little safe universe in a very uncertain and somewhat dangerous time. … We have learned to appreciate the so far very high value of ‘own land, own refuge’ even more.” <h2>A green prescription</h2> As life returns to normal, work ramps up and obligations mount, I wonder how many pandemic gardens are already being neglected. Will a hobby born out of unique circumstances recede into the background? I hope not. Gardening shouldn’t be something that’s only taken up in times of crises. If anything, the pandemic showed how gardens serve a public health need – that they’re not only places of beauty or sources of food, but also conduits for healing. In fact, several countries like New Zealand, Canada and some in Europe now allow “<a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/02/green-prescriptions-health-wellbeing/">green prescriptions</a>” to be issued as alternatives to medication. These are directives from doctors to spend a certain amount of time outdoors each day or month – an acknowledgment of the very real health benefits, from lowered stress to better sleep and improved memory, that venturing into nature can offer. I also think of the people who never had a chance to garden in the first place during the pandemic. Not everyone has a backyard or can afford gardening tools. Improving access to home gardens, urban green spaces and <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-all-community-gardens-are-environmental-equals-10485">community gardens</a>could be an important way to boost well-being and health. Making seeding, planting, pruning and harvesting part of your daily routine seems to open up more opportunities, too. “I never previously had the time to commit to a garden,” one first-time gardener told us, “but [I’ve] found such satisfaction and happiness in watching things grow. It has been a catalyst for making other positive changes in my life.” Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-pandemics-gardening-boom-shows-how-gardens-can-cultivate-public-health-181426" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

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